Medieval transcription

 
Lion images from Medieval bestiary art

own transcription image

Illustrations for medieval manuscripts or books were most often completed on parchment or animal skin. A scribe would ink in text; leaving room in the margins for the illuminator to decorate the text. The illuminations would first be drawn out using charcoal, or etched into the parchment with a metal point before being finalised with ink; made from charcoal or boiled oak galls mixed with gum. Gold leaf would then be applied to selected areas; stuck down onto a gesso base which made the gold look solid. The leftover leaf would then be burnished using a tool made from a stone or a dog's tooth. Patterns and textures could then be punctured into the raised surface. Colour would then be applied from light to dark. The paint would be made using natural, mineral and animal pigment mixed with egg white.  The artist would then finely outline separate forms and draw in finer details using black ink.

I have completed a transcription from an illustration in a 13th-century bestiary. Though I was not able to match the same materials as the original artwork; I have strived to reproduce the textures and colour as exactly as I can. I followed the same process that the original artist probably would have have

followed-  first sketching out he image, applying the gold left (liquid metal paint in my case) before applying the colour from light to dark and finishing by going over the outlines and details finely in black ink.
This careful, flat, methodical way of working with a clear intention of how to final piece should look is a new way of working for me. Medieval style art is characterised by its flat colour, lack of perspective or shadow, elaborate borders or decoration and no attempt at depicting figures or scenes realistically. 

Repeat patterns created using scans from watercolour studies.

Gallery Visit and Review.

The Fitzwilliam Museum is the principal museum of the University of Cambridge. It's purpose is to securely house and display collections for the study and enjoyment of the public. The museum was founded by Richard, VII Viscount Fitzwilliam of Merrion who, after his death in 1816, left the University of Cambridge.including 144 paintings, over 500 albums full of etchings, 130 medieval manuscripts, autograph music, his library and the money house his collection. Since it's founding; the Fitzwilliams buildings and collections have grown and become more splendid thanks to benefactors over it's two centuries of existence.

There are few other museums which house such a wide scope of exhibits; artefacts from ancient egypt, Sudan, Greece and Rome; just a floor below painting, drawings and prints from European, American and Asian schools.

Museum Opening HoursTuesday - Saturday:
10:00 - 17:00
Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays:12:00 - 17:00

CLOSED: Mondays, Good Friday, 24-26 & 31 December 2013 and 1 January 2014

Admission to the Museum's collections and to exhibitions is free. Visitors' donations help keep the galleries open and are much appreciated.

Every time I visit the Fitzwilliam I am taken aback by the fantastically exorbitant entrance hall. Every in of wall space; from the mosaic floor to the dizzyingly high glass dome ceiling is ornamented with neoclassical sculptures and intricate decoration. Two colossal staircases either side of the hall lead you up to the first floor; where Gallery 17, flower painting,  is situated: the focus of my visit.
Gallery 17 is vast and airy; a large arched window settles a cool light over the space. The mustard colored walls are bejeweled with the most decadent flower paintings from Dutch, Flemish and French artists from the 17th-19th centuries; most of them hung at eye level, so you can really get up close and admire the extraordinary detail in the artworks.

 
A STONEWARE VASE OF FLOWERS 
Jan Brueghel the elder; painter; Flemish artist, 1568-1625
Oil on panel; 1607 — 1608; 60.3 x 42.2 cm

I decided to focus on this painting by Jan Brueghel the elder. The painting is a decorus abundance of fragile, papery looking blooms, leaves and stems harboring a dozen or more little insects.
The bouquet fits neatly within the width and length of the canvas, keeping all the blooms whole and uncropped. A few spindly stems and leaves are almost lost to the gloomy, grey black background. As the bouquet thickens, the less darkness is visible in the gaps between bloom so the flowers toward the center of the arrangement seem to almost glow.
The detail in the painting is astronomical. Such insignificant details such as  the shadows created by a spider's leg or the subtle reflections of red light from the vase onto the pendant in the bottom right corner are completed with painstaking precision to the point where I can't imagine a human eye to be so observant or a hand to be so steady as to paint them. The paint is build up of many thin, subtle layers with just a small hit of texture on the coarser leaves and wrinkled flowers where more paint was needed to show every slight crease and vein.
While the technical skill in the painting is enough to engage you; the painting is very literal and shallow.There is nothing more to it; no symbolism or significance to it beyond being a beautiful painting. And while in this instance; I think virtuosity is enough, I want my own work to have both detail and narrative.    

Unicorn Tapestries.

The unicorn tapestries are a set of 7 tapestries which are believed to have been made in the Netherlands  between the years 1495 and 1505. The purpose of the tapestries is debated, but is popularly believed to be a wedding gift commissioned for the marriage between Anne of Brittany and Louis XII, King of France.

After several centuries of belonging to the La Rochefoucauld family; the tapestries were looted during the Frech revolution (spared from being destroyed because they did not show signs of royalty). The tapestries were found years later in the possession of peasants, who were using the 'old curtains' to cover potatoes and espalier trees to to stop them from freezing. The tapestries were painstaking restored after the damaged caused to them through poor treatment and now hang in the The Cloisters museum in New York.
The tapestries tell the story of the capture of a unicorn. The hunters eneter the woods, find the unicorn purifying water for animals by a fountain. The hunters attack the unicorn, but it defends itself. The unicorn is eventually captured after being charmed by a maiden, is killed and the body presented to a Lord and a lady at a castle. In the final tapestry, the unicorn has been revived and kneels 

captive in a small enclosure, looking contented, under a pomegranate tree from which juice from the red fruit drips over it's body.
The tapestries are made lush with rich flora, up to 80% of which are identifiable. The flora has been selected for it's special properties in medieval lore, to instil prosperity to the newlyweds. For example, periwinkles were believed to create unity between married couples,  wallflowers to make a woman fertile and sweet violets to ward of wicked spirits.
The tapestries are overrun with pagan and Christian symbolism. The Unicorn has long been believed to be symbolic of christ. This is true of the tapestries, as many links can be made between the unicorn and stories of christ from the bible. The unicorn can only be tamed by a maiden, commenting on christs relationship with the Virgin Mary. The unicorn is shown with goldfinches at the fountain, a bird that was consider holy because it ate the torns of plants, relating to the crow of thorns worn by jesus before his execution.The Unicorns revival in the final tapestry also relates back to christs resurrection.
The tapestries compositions are busy and engaging. The focal point in all but the first tapestry is the unicorn; pale and splendid against the rich jewel-like colours of the rest of the hanging. The party of hunters frame the unicorn with their red and blue finery, their spears and the faces of the animals all reach toward the unicorn, further directing our eyes to the enchanted beast.